Step 7: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter

Go up to the Filter menu, choose Blur, then choose Gaussian Blur:

When the Gaussian Blur dialog box appears, drag the Radius slider along the bottom towards the right to add just a slight amount of blur to the shadow. Keep an eye on the image in the document window as you drag the slider to judge the results, since the amount of blurring you add will depend on the size and resolution of your image, but all we're going for here is a subtle effect. I'm going to set my Radius value to 2 pixels:

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box. Your shadow text should now have a slight blur applied:

Step 8: Lower The Layer Opacity

Since most shadows don't appear as a solid color, lower the opacity of the layer to add a little transparency to the shadow. You'll find the Opacity option in the top right of the Layers panel. Lower it to around 80%:

Step 9: Duplicate The Shadow Layer

Press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to quickly duplicate the blurred shadow layer. A copy of it will appear above the original in the Layers panel:

Step 10: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter Again

Shadows tend to spread out and grow softer as they move further away from the source, so let's add even more blurring to our copy of the shadow. We'll then use a couple of layer masks to blend the two shadow layers together. First, hide the original shadow layer temporarily by clicking on its layer visibility icon (the eyeball) in the Layers panel. This will make it easier to see what we're doing:

Since the Gaussian Blur filter was the last filter we applied, we can access it again quickly by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F (Win) / Command+Option+F (Mac). This time, add even more blurring to the shadow by dragging the Radius slider further to the right. I'm going to set my Radius value this time to around 6 pixels. As before, the value you use may be different and will depend on your image, so judge the results in the document window as you drag the slider:

Click OK when you're done to exit out of the dialog box. Your shadow should now look similar to this:

Step 10: Add A Layer Mask

Click on the Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers panel to add a layer mask to the layer:

A layer mask thumbnail will appear beside the layer's main preview thumbnail:

Step 11: Drag Out A Black-To-White Gradient On The Layer Mask

Select Photoshop's Gradient Tool from the Tools panel:

With the Gradient Tool selected, right-click (Win) / Control-click (Mac) anywhere inside the document window and choose the black-to-white gradient by clicking on its thumbnail (third from the left, top row). Press Enter (Win) / Return (Mac) when you're done to close out of the Gradient Picker:

We want this extra blurry version of the shadow to gradually fade into view as it extends away from the text, so click with the Gradient Tool at the very top of the shadow to set the starting point for the gradient, then hold down your Shift key and drag straight down to the bottom of the shadow. Release your mouse button when you reach the bottom to set the end point for the gradient. Holding the Shift key as you drag once again limits the direction you can drag in, making it easier to drag straight down:

Since we dragged out the gradient on the layer mask, not the layer itself, the gradient is controlling the visibility of the shadow, which now slowly fades into view as it moves further away from the text:

Step 12: Copy The Layer Mask Onto The Original Shadow Layer

Click once again on the layer visibility icon for the original shadow layer so it's visible inside the document:

Click on the layer mask thumbnail in the Layers panel, hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac), then drag the mask down onto the original shadow's layer below it. When you see a highlight box appear around the original shadow's layer, release your mouse button to copy the mask onto the layer. You'll now see identical layer mask thumbnails on both shadow layers:

Step 13: Invert The Layer Mask

We need the original shadow to fade away as it moves further from the text, exactly the opposite of what it's doing right now, so click on the new layer mask thumbnail on the original shadow layer in the Layers panel to select it. Then press Ctrl+I (Win) / Command+I (Mac), which will invert the gradient on the layer mask, so black becomes white and white becomes black:

With both shadow layers now blended together, the shadow appears softer as it moves away from the text:

Step 14: Lower The Opacity Of The Top Shadow Layer

Finally, click on the top shadow layer (the copy of the shadow) in the Layers panel to once again select it, then lower its opacity to around 60%:

And with that, we're done! Here is our final "perspective shadow" text effect:

And there we have it!

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